This invention generally relates to a method and system for the detection and quantification of agglutinates formed in response to immunological agglutination reactions, and more particularly, to such a method and system employing automated image and data processing means to automatically detect and classify agglutination patterns.
Immunological agglutination reactions are used for identifying various kinds of blood types and for detecting various kinds of antibodies and antigens in blood samples and other aqueous solutions. In a conventional procedure, a sample of red blood cells is mixed with serum or plasma in test tubes or microplates, and the mixture may then be incubated and centrifuged. Various reactions either occur or do not occur depending on, for example, the blood type of the red blood cells or whether certain antibodies are present in the blood sample. Typically, these reactions manifest themselves as clumps of cells or particles with antigens and antibodies on their surfaces, referred to as agglutinates. Thus, the absence of any such clumps indicates that no reaction has occurred; and the presence of such clumps indicates that a reaction has occurred, with the size and amount of such clumps being a quantitative indicator of the level or concentration in the sample, or an indicator of the reaction strength, affinity of the complex for which the blood sample was tested.
Recently, a new agglutination test method--referred to as column agglutination technology, or CAT--has been developed. Column Agglutination Technology may be defined as the analysis of blood and blood products utilizing filtration as a means of separating agglutinated, precipitated, absorbed, or adsorbed particulate components from non-reactive components for immunoassay applications. In this method, gel or glass bead microparticles are contained within a small column, referred to as a microcolumn. A reagent such as anti-IgG is dispensed in a diluent in the microcolumn and test red blood cells are placed in a reaction chamber above the column. The column, which is typically one of a multitude of columns formed in a transparent cassette, is centrifuged. The centrifuging accelerates the reaction, if any, between the reagent and the blood cells, and also urges the cells toward the bottom of the column. The glass beads or gel in the microcolumn act as a filter, however, and resist or impede downward movement of the particles in the column. As a result, the nature and distribution of the particles in the microcolumn after centrifuging provides a visual indication of whether any agglutination reaction occurred in the microcolumn, and if so, of the strength of that reaction.
In particular, if no agglutination reaction occurs, then all or virtually all of the red blood cells in the microcolumn pass downward, during centrifuging, to the bottom of the column and form a pellet at that bottom. If there is a very strong reaction between the reagent and the red blood cells, virtually all of the red blood cells agglutinate, and large agglutinates form at the top of the microcolumn, above the gel or glass beads contained therein. The gel or glass beads prevent the agglutinates from passing, during centrifuging, to the bottom of the column, so that after centrifuging the agglutinates remain above the gel or beads.
If there is a reaction between the reagent and the blood cells, but this reaction is not as strong as the above-described very strong reaction, then some but not all of the red blood cells agglutinate. The percentage of red blood cells that agglutinate and the size of the agglutinated particles both vary directly with the strength of the reaction. During centrifuging, the unreacted blood cells pass to the bottom of the column, and the distance that the agglutinated particles pass downward through the column depends on the size and number of those particles. Hence, the size of the pellet of red blood cells at the bottom of the microcolumn, and the extent to which the agglutinates penetrate into the gel or glass beads in the microcolumn, are both inversely related to the strength of the reaction between the reagent and the red blood cells.
With this CAT, after the desired processing steps have been performed, the microcolumn is observed, or read, by a human operator, who then classifies the reaction between the reagent and the red blood cells. Conventionally, the reaction is classified as either negative or positive; and if positive, the reaction is then further classified into one of four classes depending on the strength of the reaction. A highly skilled operator is needed to properly read and classify the reaction.